Holandská politika EU

• Main Author: Svorcik, Christopher
• Other Authors: Drulák, Petr
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-287107

The Netherlands is a small Western European democracy with historically a strong orientation on international trade, commercial relations, and capital investments. Dutch foreign policy was in turn closely oriented on these interests. This obliged the Netherlands to engage in worldwide diplomacy and wars, particularly in the 17th and 18th centuries. Between the Napoleonic era and World War Two, however, the Netherlands became known for its isolationism and neutrality because it lacked the means (capital, military strength and geopolitical situation) to be able to embrace an assertive foreign policy. After the Second War World the Netherlands decided to replace its isolationist stance for economic cooperation with its European partners via the EEC and EU and for security cooperation with its Atlantic partners via NATO. The Netherlands clearly opted for Atlantic ties, European cooperation, international law, and international institutions as the basis of its new foreign policy. For the Netherlands, which was a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Economic Community (EEC), the main priority of European cooperation centered on market and economy. After the integration and enlargement processes of the European Union (EU) intensified in the 1990s and 2000s, the EU began...